Charles Paw never planned on building a tech retail empire. It all started with an incentive trip to Hong Kong—and a college student’s hustle mindset.
“I started when I was in college,” Paw says. “It was my first time to travel to Hong Kong. I was working for my cousin and I got an incentive trip to Hong Kong, so I went to this computer gadget area called Sham Shui Po.”
There, he stumbled upon a golden opportunity. “Na-discover ko yung mga CD-ROM drives, mga memory for computer na sobrang mahal sa Philippines. So kinalculate ko parang ang laki ng tubo ah. Ginawa ko, I bought a lot.”
Armed with nothing but product and instinct, he went straight to Greenhills. “Nag-alok-alok ako. I sold out everything in one day. Then after a few days I flew back again. Bili ulit—that’s how I started.”
He was just 19, a first-year college student who already knew where his heart was—not in a classroom. “Actually, hindi ako nag-finish ng college. One year lang ako sa UST tapos second year sa PSBA Manila, but I didn’t finish. Second year pa lang, I dropped out na. I didn’t like to study din kasi bagsak-bagsak din ako sa school eh. So sabi ko magbu-business na lang ako.”
Paw started assembling and selling computers from home. “Wala akong store. I do it at home, so ako lang and one staff na driver ko, kami lang.” But offering technical support 24/7 was exhausting. “Every time na may binentahan ako tapos nasira ng gabi, kailangan ko puntahan yun. So na-realize ko mauubos oras ko.”
The solution? Open a physical store. “Kasi kung nagtayo ako ng retail store, I get to ask them to bring it there, I don’t have to go to them.” His first shop was just 12 square meters—and he had to split the space. “One table lang eh. Nakihati pa ako kasi I cannot afford one full store.”
Eventually, he expanded with his cousins and launched Games & Gadgets, growing to five stores. But creative differences pushed him to part ways. “My cousins wanted to make it low-end pero I wanted mas premium yung store. Feeling ko kasi, pag low-end mas maraming kang kalaban eh. Ayokong lumaban dun sa business na naglalabanan sa presyo.”
He sold his shares and used the money to launch what would become his flagship: Digital Walker. His first major win? Introducing Crumpler to the local market. “That was my first international brand. We became so successful that we were able to open five Crumpler stores.”
Then came a chance meeting that would change everything. “By accident, we were able to meet the people from Apple. At that time wala pang Apple Philippines. They were here from Singapore visiting. By accident lang I met them, tapos nagkwento-kwento, nag-coffee lang.”
That casual conversation led to a pitch. “Sabi ko, we are interested to open an Apple store. Anong mga requirements? So sabi nya, ‘Sige, let’s do a business plan.’ Ganon lang. We applied and got the license.”
The timing couldn’t have been better. “That time maliit pa si Apple eh. Dati wala pang iPhone. Yung pinaka main product nila yung iPod. It only worked with Mac, so sobrang small ng market when we started.”
Today, Charles Paw leads one of the most recognizable tech retail groups in the country—Digital Walker, a pioneer in premium electronics, and a key player in the Apple retail ecosystem in the Philippines.
What started with CD-ROMs and a borrowed table became a national brand built on timing, instinct, and grit.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
